Dunewind Resonator by Michael Ang, Scott Kildall, and Tegan Ritz McDuffie is a set of electronic sound sculptures that transform a sand dune into a musical instrument that responds to the wind. The five wind-activated sculptures that compose Dunewind Resonator were installed at the top of a sand dune in the desert of Abu Dhabi in 2023. The sculptures capture live wind data as they tilt and twirl in the gusts passing over the crest of the dune and generate a musical composition that is amplified into speakers buried in the dune face. The musical composition contains sonic fragments of instruments such as the oud, synthesized sounds designed to stimulate the resonant sub-surface structure of the dune, and human voices. The energy of the wind forms the dunes into a landscape that is vast yet constantly shifting and impermanent. Dunewind Resonator facilitates a cycle of energy transfer from air to land and back to air by transforming the dunes into the soundboard of a musical instrument that is activated by the wind. The colors of the flags echo survey markers indicating underground infrastructure. Each of our electronic sensors rests on a shredded tire, an anticipated epilogue to the automobile age, which like all things, will not last forever.
Dunewind Resonator uses the Datapod environmental sonification technology developed by Scott Kildall and Michael Ang and was installed in the desert near Al Khazna (الخزنة), Abu Dhabi, UAE.
